Danny O'Brien (born 1969) is a British technology

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and civil liberties activist. He is the International Director of the

Electronic Frontier Foundation The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit digital rights group based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was formed on 10 July 1990 by John Gilmore, John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor to promote Internet c ...

Career

He wrote weekly columns for ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'' and ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''; and before that for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and acted as a consultant in helping ''The Guardian'' formulate its online strategy. He worked for the UK edition of ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

'', as well as for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...

and the British ISP Virgin.net. Together with Dave Green, he founded and wrote the now-defunct email newsletter ''

Need to Know The term "need to know", when used by government and other organizations (particularly those related to the military or espionage), describes the restriction of data which is considered very sensitive. Under need-to-know restrictions, even if one ...

'' and with whom he also co-wrote and -presented the

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

'' 404 Not Found''. In May 2005, he succeeded Ren Bucholz as Activist Coordinator for the

, and then became EFF's International Outreach Coordinator. In April 2010, he moved to a new position as Internet Advocacy Coordinator for the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journal ...

. In February 2013, he became the Director of the International Department at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. He was Director of Strategy at the EFF from Jul 2019 – Jun 2021. He become a Senior Fellow at the

Filecoin Filecoin (⨎) is an open-source, public cryptocurrency and digital payment system intended to be a blockchain-based cooperative digital storage and data retrieval method. It is made by Protocol Labs and shares some ideas from InterPlanetary F ...

Foundation, and Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web in July 2021 O'Brien also set up a pledge on PledgeBank to help coordinate the establishment of "an organisation that will campaign for digital rights in the UK", which led to the creation of the

Open Rights Group The Open Rights Group (ORG) is a UK-based organisation that works to preserve digital rights and freedoms by campaigning on digital rights issues and by fostering a community of grassroots activists. It campaigns on numerous issues including ma ...

Family

O'Brien is married to Liz Henry. He was previously married to

Quinn Norton Quinn Norton (born May 1973) is an American journalist and essayist. Her work covers hacker culture, Anonymous, Occupy movement, intellectual property and copyright issues, and the Internet. Early life and education Quinn Norton was born in ...

, with whom he has a daughter.

References

External links

Oblomovka — O'Brien's weblog

O'Brien's homepage
1969 births Living people British bloggers British male journalists Place of birth missing (living people) 20th-century British journalists 21st-century British journalists Male bloggers {{UK-journalist-stub

Career

Family

See also

References

External links